


The House

by angrbodagiantess



Series: The Door Home [1]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Brother Feels, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Loki Whump, Pre-Thor (2011), Protective Thor, Sci-Fi Elements, Some Fluff, Some creepiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-15 12:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1305433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angrbodagiantess/pseuds/angrbodagiantess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The princes of Asgard find themselves in a palatial house with no way to return home. But what adventures await behind the countless doors in this mysterious place? What danger?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new series for you guys! This takes place hundreds of years before _Thor_. I tend to ramble so those of you interested in more details about this series, check out the notes at the end of this chapter.
> 
>  _Important note_ : my age-headcanon applies here. Essentially, Asgardians take thousands of years to reach mental maturity, and only about 20 years to reach physical maturity. So Thor and Loki are psychologically in their late teens, early twenties.

He moved frantically down the corridor, trying this door, then that, then another- none of them would budge. Loki hissed under his breath, then, looking back, felt panic rising in his chest. It was still following him!

Another door, then another. He banged on a few, trying to open them, but as he predicted, none of them moved. He favored his left leg and tried his best to ignore the pain.

The white marble hallways remained silent. His pursuer made no noise and it unnerved Loki more than anything. What could he even call it? He had no words, no name for such a thing; he had difficulty even forming thoughts as to what it could be. Simply calling it a  _spirit_ , or  _phantom_  seemed ridiculous, he knew it was something _more_ , something indescribable, although he didn't know why he knew. It was an instinct, like the instinct of a child to be afraid of a storm. The irony wasn't lost on him that he had rarely ever been afraid of storms, given what they represented to him.

He crashed into the door at the end of the corridor, although it, too, did not move.

 _No, no!_ It was a dead end. Why hadn't he been watching? There weren't any windows in this place, he didn't know where he was, how he had arrived here. And where was Thor, hadn't he been with him on Asgard? His mind was a jumble, he didn't know what to do.

He turned around and braced his back against the door, watching with wide eyes what he felt approaching.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eye, something blinked, like a light. He jumped toward it, desperate to find  _something_  to aid him. It was a small panel beside the door on the wall, it glowed with a subtle red light as Loki attempted to discern its purpose. Gazing backward, he quickened his efforts.  _I still have time, still have time..._

As if on instinct, Loki swiped the metal on his right wrist across the panel, just as the door hissed open with a groan and a click. Surprised but relieved, Loki didn't spare a glance behind as he rushed through the door and closed it shut behind.

.

_Two hours earlier._

.

Loki awoke with his head pounding, his limbs tired. His eyes were heavy, as if he had slept too long or too little. There was something soft beneath him, although his legs dangled off the side of whatever it was.

_"There is a Door open on the fifth flo-"_

His eyes opened. He blinked, then blinked several times more as his eyes adjusted to the light.

_"There is a D-Door open on the fifth floor."_

Loki shook his head and tried to sit up, looking about.  _What was that?_  Had he just heard a voice or had he imagined it?

There was an odd crackling sound, then nothing.

Sitting up, he looked around. He was in an oddly shaped room, octagonal, with four doors, each across from each other. The walls were of a white marble, the lights glowing dimly at the lip of the ceiling- although it was still bright. The floor, too, was marble, with gold trims where it met the walls. Large black-marble archways hung over each door and... he finally noticed what he had been laying on, a long flat couch of a deep red. Several other couches sat scattered in the room, as well as a few cushions on the floor. All in all an elegant room, yet-

_Odd..._

Sitting up further, the god attempted to stand only to fall back down when his head swam.  _What's happened to me?_  He jumped a little when a voice filled the room again.

 _"You- a-are in-"_  it stopped a moment,  _"-i-in... There i-is...on the...floor-r-r-"_

Loki frowned fiercely at the ceiling since it appeared that's where the voice was coming from.

"Who is that?" he asked the room.

The voice was a woman's, almost...artificial? It didn't continue.

Looking down, Loki frowned at some sort of silver metal that was clasped around his right wrist.  _What's this?_  He tapped it and held it to the light, curious as to what its purpose was, and just  _who_  had put it on him. After several tries, he quickly realized he couldn't take it off. He pulled at it and strained himself, but it remained, solid and smooth. Shaking his head, he decided to ignore it for now.

Finding his footing, he stretched his legs and began walking around. There wasn't much to the room except for the few couches and the...doors. Should he try one? But which one. He looked between them, they were identical. Like most everything else in the room, they too were white, almost like marble themselves.

Quickly tiring of standing around, and now that his dizzy spell had ended, Loki walked to the nearest door to his left and, carefully, reached out a hand and pulled the gilded handle.

.

Corridors. Lots and lots of corridors. And doors, doors that lined both walls and never seemed to end. Everything here was marble as well, except the doors were of a cherry-colored wood. If Loki didn't know better he would think he was in some sort of palace. There were no windows.

Going back to the octagonal room, he found that the two doors, each to the left and right of the one he had just tried, had similar long stretches of corridors, although one branched off and the other led to a door at the end that wouldn't open.

So, the fourth door...

 _"There is a-a Door op-pen on the fifth floor,"_  said the artificial woman's voice again, stuttering for a moment.

"Who is saying that?!" Loki screamed to the ceiling, suddenly frustrated. It was clear that the voice was some sort of machine as her inflection was exactly the same as the first time she had spoken those words. That didn't tell him much, except that wherever he was had technology. It also told him something else, that this place, whatever it is, has at least five floors- which meant stairs and...a ground floor, perhaps?

Slightly encouraged, he reached for the fourth door's handle, only to find that it wouldn't open.  _Hm._  Locked? He tried several more times but it wouldn't budge.

He left out the first door he had tried and stopped at nearly every door to see where they might lead. Nothing. Not a single one would open.

_"There...D-Door- floor..."_

Loki sighed loudly and shook his head. What  _was_ that voice? It stuttered and repeated almost the same thing every time. Was it some sort of machine? Whatever it was, it didn't seem inclined to answer him so he ignored it.

The corridors seemed endless. There were no windows, no matter how far he went. His attempt to find stairs proved fruitless and he wondered how large this place could be. And how had he arrived here? He had been in Asgard, in the palace, the last he remembered.

Another handle that wouldn't budge. This was becoming tiresome.

 _"May-y...help y-you?"_  asked the voice.

Loki's eyebrows lifted. "Are you speaking to me?" No answer. He waited a moment, then asked, "Is anyone there?"

Again, silence, until,  _"P-Please m-make...fifth floor. Ther-re...intr-intruder-"_  It cut off with a strange noise Loki couldn't decipher. What was wrong with the machine? It's words, however, made him nervous. Intruder, it had said. What did that mean? Was Loki not an intruder as well?

"If you wish me to go to the fifth floor," Loki tried, tentatively, "might you direct me to the stairs?" He didn't expect an answer, until it  _did_  answer.

 _"T-To y-your right. A- A-ggg... Two corridor-r-s...then-n left. P-Plea-"_ Again, it cut off, although he had his answer.

.

The machine's instructions were vague, but he managed to find the stairwell with some backtracking. The stairs were as elegant as the rest of the place, spiraling upward with pale marble and a red wood railing that reflected in the subtle light.

Although this place was serene, it also put Loki on edge given that there seemed to be no end to it- and it was  _quiet_. Too quiet. His light footsteps echoed as if Thor himself were stomping toward him.

Looking up in the stairwell, he couldn't even see a ceiling; it seemed to go on forever. Shuddering, Loki forced himself not to look up as he made his way to the fifth floor. Apparently, he had already been on the ground floor, even if he couldn't find an exit. No matter, perhaps, after he found out whatever the machine was on about, he would return and try to find a way out.

 _"There is a Door open on the fifth floor,"_  said the machine.  _"Th-There...an intruder. Ple-e-ease...caution."_

 _Caution?_  "Why?" asked Loki as he walked carefully away from the stairs into the corridor, which looked exactly the same as the others.

No answer.

He walked steadily, eyeing each door and watching behind in case this  _intruder_  might try to attack. Why was he even listening to this artificial voice, anyway? He supposed there wasn't much choice given that he couldn't find his way out. Perhaps, if he dealt with this  _'Door on the fifth floor'_  then the machine might help him. He didn't know what else he could do.

Right when he was about to ask the voice where this open door might be, he saw it. Indeed there was an open door, some distance ahead, on the right.

 _Hm._  Might this room lead to somewhere? And why would the voice care if there was a door open, was that such a terrible thing?

He approached it slowly with deliberate attempts at soundless steps, wondering where this 'intruder' might be. Surely whoever it was was long gone by now?

When he was only a few steps away, the voice spoke.  _"D-Do not-t enter. Y-You are in-in-n danger. Pl-Please t-turn around."_

Eyes going wide, Loki held his breath. He didn't know why, but those words sent a shiver down his spine and froze him to the spot.

_"Please turn-n around."_

He didn't want to. "What's behind me," he whispered breathlessly.

_"Pl-Please run."_

Loki ran.

.

Every door, locked! He had soon forgotten the door that had been ajar, suddenly realizing there was nothing he wanted more than to avoid that open door. When he finally caught his breath as he leaned against the wall, he dared a glance behind.

Nothing.

What had he been running from? Yet still, there was an increasing sense of dread, of something waiting just around the corner. It was not unlike being a child again, afraid of something under his bed or waiting in that shadowed corner, ready to pounce the moment he shut his eyes.

Sweat gathered around his high collar and he knew it wasn't from the run. Before he could begin to relax, again the voice in the ceiling asked him, in that ever-polite tone, to run. The voice  _really_  wasn't helping, but it was more than that. He  _knew_ , somehow instinctively, that there was danger approaching and that if he didn't run something terrible would happen.

Looking behind as he ran- and again seeing nothing -Loki didn't see the sharp  _drop_  of the floor suddenly not being there around a corner. He yelped in surprise as he fell, his left ankle and elbow cracking on the marble floor. His eyes watered as he hissed at the pain, although he didn't think he had broken anything. It still hurt so he assumed he had sprained at least his ankle.

"Thank you for the warning!" he screamed to the ceiling, although there was no reply.

He gritted his teeth and looked around, then realized he had fallen all the way back to the first floor.  _Damn._  Why was a huge chunk of the building missing across five floors, suddenly? Looking up, indeed the five levels were missing their floors, although the walls remained intact and, he realized, he might have been able to jump over the expanse if he had been paying attention.

And now he was hurt. Wonderful.

Painstakingly, he got to his feet, although he stayed off his left ankle and flexed his arm, assessing the injury. That one wasn't too bad. Either way, he would heal soon enough, but it might not be as painless a healing if he continued to run around.

Suddenly, the feeling of dread, of being  _chased_  returned, just as the voice said,  _"The in-intruder is on the-the fourth floor..."_  Loki turned to run.  _"...the-e intrud-...third f-floor..."_  He didn't wait to watch, he continued trying doors.

"Are there  _any_ doors unlocked in this place?" he screeched at the voice, not caring how his voice squeaked.

_"...int-intruder- the...the sec-c-cond fl-"_

Loki growled and made his way to a bend in the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Loki, you just up and hurt yourself already. Okay, that was me. Meanie me.  
> Chapters per story will be updated weekly, give or take a day or two. 
> 
> _Detailed note for series_ : No worries, readers of my other fics, this is my 'writer's block' fic, meaning I only write it when I'm stuck with the others, or possibly when I'm just bored, lol. I know I'm really bad with updates, so, for this fic, I've made a solemn vow to the gods of fan fiction (honestly!) that I will not begin posting a new story in this series until I've finished it. I've already completed two and the third's almost finished. Even so, I don't want this series to interfere with anything else I write so, I'll tell ya now, there can be long gaps between each story (could be months). However, they are, more or less, self-contained. They have a main story arc, but each one is its own story.  
> I also think I should point out that since I write this fic when I have writer's block, the quality might be...iffy. I'm also trying to ignore my perfectionism so I can write faster (succeeding, so far) but, again, that might bring the quality down a bit. Feel free to point out grammatical mistakes, though!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter a bit earlier than I was planning since I've already proofread and edited it.

.

_Present_

.

The door clicked open and Loki rushed inside, the relief he felt at being able to open at least _one_  door was nearly overwhelming. But would it even matter? Would this door keep the intruder out? And how had he known that the strange metal around his wrist would open the door?

He leaned against the door with his back and finally looked at the room. He blinked at it.  _What?_  A series of long, square, shallow pools of crystal blue water stretched across the floor, some large, some small. White pillars held up waterfalls that fell into the numerous pools as deep lights lit up the pools themselves. Plants hung from the pillars as well.

The room was large, but not overly much; some sort of bath-house, Loki guessed. The high ceiling was filled with blue, green and white crystals that glowed like an ocean's waves, cascading like a drumbeat from wall to wall. It was beautiful and unlike anything Loki had ever seen. He had the urge to plunge into one of the glowing pools- he was certain it would be divine.

As he walked slowly, something to his right caught his eye. He squinted at it, wondering if he was hallucinating.

The red caught his eye first, then the blonde hair, then the silver armor-  _Thor?_  Loki rushed over, panic rising as he approached the prone form of his brother, whose foot was halfway in one of the pools.

"Thor...Thor!" He winced at his leg, having forgotten it, but he didn't care as he fell next to the older god. "Brother, are you-?"

Immediately, Thor jerked up, the back of his head catching Loki's nose and causing him to cry out.

"Ah! Thor!" Loki yelled. He shut his eyes for a moment but still worried over Thor, determined not to take his eyes off him until he knew he was well.

"Loki?" Thor sat up straight, back rigid. "What's- where are we? How did we..?" he looked around in a hurry, wide-eyed and on alert.

Loki nearly had to duck when he felt Mjolnir flying passed his head, called to Thor's hand from somewhere behind. He cursed. "Thor! Stop, it's only me!" He held his nose and the thunder god finally seemed to notice him, eyes falling on him and frowning.

"Are you-"

"No, I'm not well!" Loki countered immediately. He tentatively removed his hand from his nose and sniffed. "Am I bleeding?"

Thor continued frowning and shook his head. As if what Loki had said finally registered, he sat up on his legs and leaned over the younger. "Are you otherwise hurt, then?" He pawed at Loki's clothing, checking for injuries.

Loki batted his hands away- in truth,  _feigning_ annoyance because Thor's presence never ceased to make him feel safer, whatever was happening.

Thor didn't stop, however, despite his protests, as his hand came to rest on Loki's cheek. "Are you  _hurt_?" Thor asked, his tone demanding but gentle. Loki nearly rolled his eyes as his shoulders slumped.

"It's...just my leg, and...my elbow, but-" Thor was already checking him,  _moving_  his injured leg and arm. Loki hissed. " _Stop_  that, I'm fine! You'll only make it worse, let me heal." Thor leaned back, dropping his hands. He still looked very worried. "I'm  _fine_ ," Loki repeated. He was acting annoyed, as any younger sibling should, but right now, he  _wanted_  Thor to worry over him; he wasn't certain why.

The elder looked around, asking again, "Where are we?"

He didn't see the way Loki's eyes flitted nervously to the door he had just entered. "I don't know. I only awoke a little while ago, myself."

Thor looked to him, eyebrows slightly raised. "And yet you had time to injure yourself. You do not waste time, do you?" He chuckled, but sobered when Loki barely acknowledged his quip since he was too busy staring at the door. "What, brother?"

"I think we should leave," Loki whispered. He could  _feel_  the intruder, whatever it was, at the door, as if trying to get in. He unconsciously pulled closer to Thor as he continued staring where he was sure the  _thing_  would emerge- but why couldn't he see it, hear it? It didn't make sense. Was he frightened of a figment of his imagination?

Thor stood up and, carefully, brought Loki with him. Although he could have stood on his own, Loki allowed Thor to hold some of his weight, their closeness banishing some of his fear. He breathed heavily, in and out, and didn't care that he probably looked frightened of a door, right now.

"Loki, what is it?" Thor asked.

No sooner had Thor spoken that the door began to  _bend_  inward, as if a terrible pressure were pushing it to near-breaking point, but the door held against all logic. It was  _metal_ , Loki now noticed, and whatever could cause it to bend so sent shivers down Loki's body.

"What in Helheim is  _that_?" asked Thor. He held Mjolnir aloft, although Loki wasn't certain that would prove at all useful against whatever was outside.

"Thor," he whispered, "we need to leave. Let's go this way," he tried to usher Thor away from the door, but he held fast.

"What  _is that_..?

"Your damned hammer won't help here, we have to  _leave_!"

Thor looked ready to be angry at the words, but one look at his brother's wide green eyes had him nodding. "Let's go."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The room of pools- or rather,  _rooms_  of pools -had several doors other than the one Loki had entered.

Thor was at a loss, although it became clear that Loki didn't really know what was happening either. All his little brother knew was that  _something_  had been chasing him- was  _still_  chasing him, that there was some sort of machine-voice that was, presumably, aiding him, and that there was an odd device secured around his wrist that he couldn't remove. Thor had offered to try and remove it with Mjolnir but Loki protested and hissed at his efforts, saying he would just as likely break his arm as get the device off; that would have to wait until later, under more controlled circumstances.

There were, seemingly, endless corridors outside the pool-room. Loki had sighed at the sight, apparently having expected it. The ceiling voice had spoken to them at intervals, although it had said nothing useful and half of whatever it said couldn't be deciphered.

Loki limped but said he would be fine, although he allowed Thor to aid him- which was strange, he would typically push Thor away when he was so lightly hurt. Perhaps his injuries were more serious than he let on? Anything was possible with Loki.

Whatever was following them hadn't shown its face yet and Thor wondered why Loki insisted they run away. The voice, too, wished them to run, although Thor wanted, more than anything, to see whatever this enemy might be. Why was Loki so frightened? At his brother's own admission, he hadn't even  _seen_  this 'intruder' the voice insisted was following them. Not that Thor doubted its existence, he had seen himself the way it had moved the door.

"What is this?" Thor stopped suddenly at the end of the corridor, the door in front of them larger than any they had seen thus far.

Loki shook his head. "I don't know." He touched it with delicate fingers as he studied it.

It was a double door and pearly-white, twice as high and wide as the others in the corridor. An onyx elaborate arch, decorated with polished sculpted wings and intricate lines bordered it, stark against the pale surroundings.

"Can I get through this door..." Loki all but whispered to himself as he walked to a panel to the door's right. The panel seemed a strange contrast to the elegant and stately doorway, although Thor supposed he shouldn't be surprised by oddities in this place.  _Everything_  about this place was strange so far- although beautiful at times, if ominous. And how had they even arrived here?

Immediately, the red light of the panel turned to blue and the great door clicked, just as Loki rushed to open it.

.

Thor blinked at the sight before them. "A...library?" he asked, absently.

Loki's mouth was open, along with wide eyes that scanned the large room. It was at least a dozen floors high, if not more, the walls covered in lines of books. A mezzanine to their right led to stairs that led to a second level that wrapped around the library, the railing marble-white. More stairs led up to each level in turn, drawing the eye higher and higher until-

Loki inhaled sharply at the sight; a high-domed ceiling of glass that lit up with multi-colored lights of what looked like constellations that shifted every few moments, expanding and shrinking, showing stars that Thor wondered if his brother recognized.

Straight ahead, at nearly a hundred paces, was a wide glass window, crisscrossed with a deep-colored wood that reached nearly to the ceiling. Outside was... What was that?

The two walked toward the window, unsure of what they were seeing. Small stairs, wrapped around a low, half-circle dais, led up to the window as they both peeked out.

"What are we looking at?" Thor asked, staring.

Everything was white. Not white like snow or fog, but a blanketing white, like there might be a sheet over the window itself.

"I don't know... What a strange place," Loki mumbled. "Some sort of bath-house and now a library that rivals the Great Library at home." He blinked and turned around, then met Thor's half-amused gaze. "What?" he frowned.

"Nothing," Thor shrugged, almost smiling. "You like it here."

"Don't be ridiculous. Not only do I not know where  _here_  is, but there's some...thing after us. I'd much prefer to go home."

Thor nodded slowly but wasn't sure if he believed him. New things always attracted the younger god, even dangerous things. If it hadn't been discovered or documented extensively yet, Loki was  _always_  interested. He doubted this was any different-  _thing_  following them or not. Still... Loki's eyes occasionally flicked to the door they had just entered, his nerves obviously still on edge.

"Do you think it will follow us here?" asked Thor.

Loki shrugged but said nothing. He eyed the floor. "This is strange, though."

"What?" Thor stepped up to him, looking at the maroon, carpeted floor. "The floor?"

He hummed in response. "There are books covering every wall and level; why is the floor so blank?" His eyes darted to the door and he froze, breath held, then a moment later he relaxed, although not completely. Thor wondered if he had imagined Loki stepping a little closer to him.

"What does it matter, Loki. Shouldn't we be finding a way out?" Thor's eyes moved to the window again, then the ceiling, which was as blank-white as the window behind its shifting constellations of light. "I'm uncertain if breaking either of these windows would be prudent..."

"No, you're right," Loki interjected, suddenly calculating again, his curiosity put on hold. "Whatever is out there," he walked to the window again, looking out, "I'm not sure I  _want_  to know." He whipped around and stared at the door, but a moment later his gaze fixed on a point to his right, toward a wall filled with books. His head tilted as his eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" asked Thor.

The younger moved quickly and hissed at his hurt leg, but didn't wait for Thor to help as he limped quickly to the wall.

"What is it?" Thor asked more urgently, following.

"Don't you see that?" Loki pointed to the books.

"See what?"

" _That_ ," he continued to point, his finger closing in on a large leather-bound, deep blue book.

"A...book?"

The younger rolled his eyes. "Yes, a book, Thor," he said sarcastically. "I'm pointing out a random book for no reason."

Thor sighed through his nose and reminded himself that the other was hurt, and it wouldn't do to hurt him further. "You don't have to be so  _sarcastic_ ; it's a simple question."

Loki smirked. "I always answer stupid questions with sarcasm."

" _Simple_ , brother, not stupid. Whatever you're seeing, I'm not."

Now Loki frowned. He tilted his head at the book, then at Thor. "You don't see that?"

Thor sighed again. " _No_ , I do not. Just tell me-"

"There are runes on the binding." He leaned toward it, eyes bright. "Like...rivers of yellow light. You truly can't-"

"I seem to be repeating myself a lot today."

Loki straightened and gave Thor a look. "Now who's being sarcastic."

Thor smiled widely. "I learned from the best."

The trickster narrowed his eyes in return. "Not yet, you haven't." He shook his head and leaned forward to examine the book. His gaze flicked once again to the door, just as Thor's did, before he quickly, as if afraid it might disappear, grabbed the book but held it away from his body.

When several moments passed of his brother simply holding the book at arm's length, Thor perked his lips and said, "Are you...expecting something to happen, or..?"

"Shh," the younger whispered.

Thor scoffed and rolled his eyes. Impatient, and starting to wonder if his brother might have injured more than just his leg, Thor grabbed the book from his brother's hands.

"Thor!" Loki protested.

Chuckling, the elder turned away and used his frame to keep his brother at bay, then opened the book for a peek. "You are too cautious sometimes, brother," said Thor, still keeping his brother away with his back. "If there is any danger, I suppose I will bear the brunt of it."

An annoyed growl and several decidedly adolescent lunges later, Loki finally made it to Thor's front as the blonde smirked at his brother's fuming.

"That wasn't funny," said Loki as he snatched the book away. He did, however, eye Thor as if to see if anything  _had_  affected him. It didn't matter, it wasn't as if Thor had  _really_  been reading it.

Thor crossed his arms. "As I said: too cautious." He smiled as Loki ignored him and leafed through the pages.

With a new book in hand, Loki's annoyance melted away, replaced by wide-eyed curiosity and a small quirk of his lips that always lingered whenever he found something exciting to explore.

Thor's smiled didn't fade as he watched him. As he had thought: even with danger so near, a book never ceased to draw- and hold -his brother's attention.  _Ever the scholar, little brother._

"This is amazing," Loki murmured, eyes still transfixed on the pages.

"What is?" ventured Thor. He hoped this would actually  _help_  them and that it wasn't just his brother finding something new that wouldn't interest Thor in the slightest.

"This book, it appears to hold detailed schematics for this place-"

 _"Pleas-se turn...one hundred-d...eight..."_  The voice trailed off, although Loki was already turning to the page.

His eyes scanned faster than Thor could ever hope to read, but then he frowned as he moved back to the top of the page. He blinked harshly with his second look, as if he had been staring at it too long. "This is..."

 _"P-Ple-e-e-e...to the-"_ more static, then finally,  _"repair...-tem from corr-corrido-o-"_  Once again, it cut off.

Both brothers continued to listen for a moment but the voice didn't continue. "Did you understand any of that?" asked Thor.

Loki rubbed his upper lip with a finger, a habit that meant he was thinking, calculating. It could be a good sign or a bad one. This time, though, it could only be good. "I believe so." He returned to the book as he looked over it once more. Then, his eyes twinkled as he smiled. "Thor...we're going to fix the machine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you two. Always getting into these crazy situations. ;D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is weird, I had to be reminded that today is my birthday by somebody else, hahaha. Is that a sign I'm getting old? :D

His elder brother continued to frown for a few more moments, his eyes distant but staring right at Loki.

"Don't hurt yourself," Loki smirked.

Thor righted himself and huffed. "That one is getting old."

"Old doesn't mean wrong." His tight smile widened.

A moment passed before Thor answered with, "Shut up."

"So clever, brother. I do wonder why they call  _me_  Silvertongue-"

A rumble in the floor caused Loki to nearly jump on Thor as Thor himself hefted Mjolnir and clenched his jaw, ready for any enemy. Loki's fingers held tightly to Thor's right wrist as they watched a small, flat circular surface appear next to them, wide enough to stand on and metallic. A ring of pale blue light bordered it, shining upward like a waist-high curtain.

After looking down to his wrist, still held in an iron grip by Loki, Thor met the other's wide green eyes. Noticing his brother staring, Loki immediately let go, then purposely straightened his back as he stared at the metal surface. He cleared his throat. "I don't think I did that," he nodded in the direction of the circle.

"Hm." Thor walked toward it.

"Thor-!" Loki protested as his hand shot out to stop the blonde, Thor stopping just shy of stepping on it.

"We can't spend all day staring at things, brother," said Thor, as if it was so obvious.

Loki growled lightly under his breath. " _Staring_. What else was I supposed to do when it appeared out of nowhere? Do you expect me to just jump on-"

Without warning, Thor walked onto the round platform as Loki all but yelped at the elder- who promptly disappeared.

Frozen in place, Loki couldn't breathe.  _What...where did he..._  He felt panic rising as he looked around, knowing it was foolish to wonder if he might have somehow missed Thor simply passing him by. He finally found his breath. "Thor!" His voice sounded pathetically small in the too-large room. He looked behind him, at the door, then wondered if the  _thing_  might find him while Thor was away. He didn't sense it, that was good.

Looking forward again, he wondered what he should do, but before he could even start to speculate as to what might have happened to his brother, Thor's large frame suddenly appeared before him.

"That was..." Thor walked off the metal platform and casually looked at it, "...interesting."

Without thinking, Loki  _almost_  hugged him, but then, remembering himself, he pulled back and hit Thor on the arm. "What the Hel are you doing, Thor!"

Thor's eyebrows lifted slightly. "What's the matter? I wasn't gone very long."

"That's not the issue, you dimwitted lout! You can't just-" Loki gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, because  _of course_  Thor would just jump on the platform, and  _no_ , it wouldn't matter how much Loki told him to  _wait_ , he _always_  rushed ahead. His eyes opened, and, he hoped, still appeared angry. "You can't just  _do things_ , Thor. How did you know what could happen? You might have been..." he trailed off, frustrated.  _Idiot._  Patience was not a word Thor could comprehend.

The idiot smiled. "Did you worry for me? You know I wouldn't leave you."

"Not  _intentionally_ -" Loki stopped himself. It was amazing how easily Thor could twist words to his benefit; Loki might have been proud except Thor wasn't doing it  _on purpose_. Guileless as ever, the oaf always _stumbled_  into his charm. Or so Loki vehemently told himself.

Looking again at the circular device, Thor said, "There was something on the other side. A transportation device?"

Collecting himself quickly, Loki snorted, "Obviously." Yet still... He eyed Thor. "Is it...safe?" He wouldn't have been so obviously cautious- and vocal about it -if it was anyone but Thor.

Thor shrugged with one shoulder. "There was air, at least."

Loki rolled his eyes. "How comforting."

Then, he felt a presence somewhere behind, and so  _suddenly_  that he gasped. He didn't dare turn.

"Loki?" Thor said, worried.

Loki's breath came in short, controlled intakes as he stared at nothing with wide eyes. "It's..." he whispered, barely above a breath. "It's in here with us."

So quickly that Loki barely registered what was happening, Thor grabbed him and bodily moved them both onto the metal surface as everything went dark.

.

Gasping for air, Loki clung to Thor without thought. Blinking his disorientation away, he found the wall of books that had been there moments ago replaced with a wall of gray marble.  _Is this entire place made of marble?_  he absently wondered.

"...Brother?" Thor's voice broke in, one of his calloused hands on the side of Loki's face, holding him steady, determined but caring.

Loki blinked quickly. "What?"

"You were too pale, and too suddenly," he responded with concern, his hand falling slowly.

Loki tried for a smirk that never came. "I'm always pale." He stepped off the metal circle and watched the way the curtain of light momentarily parted as he passed.

"Pale-er, then. You truly need to get more sun, brother." The thunderer moved off of it as well.

"Whatever I might do, I'll never be as sun-kissed as you," he managed a smile, suddenly afraid to let go of their light banter. He didn't want to consider that something might follow them here. A moment later he realized the comment didn't have as much bite as it should. It sounded like a compliment. Thor only shrugged. "Where are we?" asked Loki. He knew Thor wouldn't know but he felt the need to ask anyway.

"I suppose we are still in the library?" Thor asked, looking about.

 _Obvious,_  Loki thought.

Before them was a long corridor that stretched in both directions. Along both walls, and reaching to the low ceiling- at least compared to the library's -were books that seemed to go on forever.

"How large is this library?" Thor asked next.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling this book could prove useful down here...somehow." Looking down, Loki suddenly remembered he was still holding the large tome. He still couldn't understand why he could see the bright runes on its surface, and even within, when Thor could not. Was it because of his magic?

Suddenly, the voice of the machine resounded around them, loud in the smaller space, but Loki couldn't make it out.

"What is she saying?" asked Thor.

Loki shook his head and looked at page one-hundred and eight. Although he didn't understand most of what he was seeing, he at least understood that they needed to be in a certain-

He looked around at the walls. There were marks here and there, strange symbols followed by numbers. Blinking, he realized the All-tongue wasn't  _translating_ , rather, it was actually in his own language.

"What?" Thor turned to the markings and frowned. "Is that...important?"

Loki continued to stare at it. "I would say so. This books says we need to be...here, actually. Right here where we are."

Thor seemed taken aback. "Then is this where we can fix the machine?" He looked about. "I don't see how. There's nothing here but books." He said the words as if he thought books were useless. Never mind that a book had  _brought_ them here. Or had it? Loki had no idea if this was the only place that the metal circle could transport them to. Did finding the book somehow activate the device?

Again, the voice of the machine attempted to speak, and again, neither brother could understand.

"That is becoming tiresome," grumbled Thor.

"Hm," Loki looked at the book. He turned the page. "It says..." He squinted at it, trying not to hurt his eyes. "It says I should speak these words."  _Simple_ , he mused. He blinked and realized if he stared at it too long he would probably get a headache. While the words on the wall were easily legible, these particular words could barely be translated into anything even recognizable. He had never seen the All-tongue struggle to translate any language, but this one made him want to look away at the mere sight of it.

"Then what does it say?" asked Thor.

Loki was all-too glad to look at his brother instead. "I don't know."

"You don't know? But how-"

"I don't  _understand_  the words- if you'll let me finish -but I  _can_ read them. They appear nonsensical to me."

Looking down at the words, he read the indicated phrase as best he could, although speaking it made his throat hurt. He didn't think Asgardians were meant to speak this language. He saw Thor wincing in disgust.

"What is that look?" asked Loki, amused. Then he coughed because he sounded like he had lost his voice.  _What in Helheim..?_

Thor's brow furrowed. "Loki, your voice."

Nodding, the younger prince grimaced and wondered how such a thing could happen. Did he just...cast a spell?

"That did not sound pleasant-" Thor began, but he was cut off when a loud, but short, slicing sound, like a sword through air, was followed by a smooth, metal door suddenly appearing next to them, the books that had been there disappearing. Next, the door slid open, its silvery surface sliding upward to hide in the ceiling.

Both princes stared.

"That was...unexpected," said Loki. "Although I'm not certain what  _else_ I could have expected." He didn't like how his voice sounded. How could he have lost it so quickly?

And before Thor could, once  _again_ , walk into the unknown without thinking, Loki's arm shot out to stop him.

"Oh no you don't, brother," said the younger. "You have to stop, and _think_ , first. No more rushing in blind."

Tentatively, as if afraid he might hurt him-  _oh, mocking, how nice_  -Thor removed his arm from his chest. "And just  _what else_  would you like to do, hm, brother? It is a  _door_. What else can we do but walk through?"

Loki narrowed his eyes, thinking.  _Damn._  Because Thor was  _right._  This door had appeared because Loki had brought it forth, what else was there to do but be rash and just go through the damned thing? Not much.

With a loud groan and an exaggerated tilt of his head- and an idiotic smile from his older brother -Loki nodded and followed the other through the open doorway.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

It wasn't as if Thor was  _intentionally_  trying to get on his little brother's nerves, it was just that Loki was  _too cautious_ , and Thor had little patience for waiting around and seeing whatever experiments the other might conjure to find out what they  _should_ do, if anything. Action was simple,  _thinking_  was...not. He knew what Loki would say to that, so Thor said nothing. He didn't want to stand around more while they talked. Loki was ever so fond of  _talking_. It was any wonder he got anything done back home- but then, there weren't many who were willing to work with the mischief god...

Shaking his thoughts away, Thor looked around. He wasn't certain  _what_  he had been expecting, but this...wasn't even close.

"We're in your chambers," Thor stated; even he knew he sounded dumb.

"I can see that," returned the trickster's hoarse voice.

Whatever this place was, it looked  _exactly_  like Loki's chambers in the palace on Asgard. It glowed with the same familiar warmth Thor had known all his life, knew just as well as his own rooms.

"What  _is_ this..?" mumbled Loki, still surprised, although a moment later he looked around with a purpose. "An illusion," he stated. "Has to be..." He touched his desk- or...whatever it was. It appeared solid. "A very good illusion." He walked to the bed as his slim fingers slid across its surface. "A very,  _very_  good illusion," he continued to mumble.

The broken voice of the machine started again, although like before it wasn't clear what was said.

Rushing to the desk, Loki quickly placed the book on it and scrambled to read the same page he had been. Uncertain what to do with himself, Thor reached to touch the wall-

"Do  _not_  touch anything," said Loki with a sharp tone, not looking up from his study.

"I wasn't," said Thor, trying not to sound defensive. What did it matter, anyway? Loki had been touching things.

After several minutes past, the younger prince stood up straight and cracked his neck.

"What's wrong?" asked Thor.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Loki as he rubbed at his neck, then his eyes, with both hands. "I just feel like my head might implode if I keep this up." His tired eyes looked to Thor. The elder approached as Loki indicated the page. "I've never seen this form of sorcery before. I can barely even  _read_  it much less speak it."

The moment Thor glanced at it, even to read one word, he had to look away. "By the Norns," he hissed, as if his eyes had been assaulted. "How do you look at that?"

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Years of practice," he stated wearily. Unfortunately, not yet centuries, or even decades. "Although I admit this is beyond me. I've only just begun studying verbal spells." When Thor gave him a confused look, he added, "Spells don't have to be cast verbally, even though almost all of the most powerful ones have  _some_  verbal component that's required before..." His eyes focused on the page again. "This one is- fortunately, I suppose -short, but I'm having difficulty rendering it into All-tongue." He sighed. "I'll try it anyway."

Taking a deep breath, Loki bent over the tome and placed both hands beside it as if to brace himself. Thor's first instinct was to move away- magic sometimes unnerved him -but a stronger instinct kept him near his brother.

A shudder and a slight cough was followed by the most horrible sounding language Thor had ever heard. Like the spell in the corridor, the sound- even coming from his little brother -made him want to cover his ears. But as Loki had said, the spell ended quickly, just as the younger prince nearly crumbled to the floor.

"Loki!" Thor, fortunately, managed to catch him around the waist, although Loki was already slumped over the large desk.

Loki coughed and, with a ruined voice, said, "Well, that was fun." His small and tired smile made Thor smile in return.

"That  _was_ short," responded Thor. "But...very unpleasant to hear. Are you alright, brother?"

Loud, crackling noises filled the air suddenly, followed by a high-pitched whine that made both brothers cringe. It lasted only seconds, however, and was followed by the smooth voice of the machine.

_"Thank you. I have been waiting for you to repair me since you first arrived."_

Thor's raised brows matched Loki's.

.

_"I apologize for the difficulty of the spell you had to cast, Loki, though I wasn't aware of the toll it would take given my state at the time."_

Thor held tightly to his younger brother from behind as he asked, "Who are you?  _What_  are you? What is happening-"

_"Do not worry, I will answer all your questions, but for the moment you should look after your brother."_

Looking down, Thor noticed that Loki was slowly losing consciousness. "Loki!" He looked to the ceiling, although he wasn't certain  _where_  he should be looking to speak to the machine. "What have you done to him?!"

_"I have done nothing to him. The process necessary to repair my systems is not designed for your people."_

"What does that mean?" Thor asked, annoyed. He scooped Loki up and moved him to the large bed in a hurry.

_"What you call sorcery is what many call science. They are similar, but there is a difference; I am afraid your brother just ran into that difference. Verbally casting spells is not the correct way to interact with the technology in the House. The Book re-wrote itself to accommodate your brother's inherent magical talents- essentially, creating spells where they were never meant to exist."_

Thor ran a hand through Loki's hair, worried at how still and pale his brother had become. "I don't understand anything you're saying, machine. How do I help him?" He felt tears itching behind his eyes, wanting to fall, but Thor didn't have time for that so he ignored it.

_"Apologies. There is a vial on the table across the room. Can you see it?"_

Thor would know the location of the table in the dark. He nodded. He kissed Loki on the forehead before hurrying toward it. "What do I do with it?"

_"Give it to your brother."_

He held it in his hand. It was small, barely the size of his palm, and a deep green color. The liquid inside shimmered when he tilted it. "But how?" asked Thor. "He is unconscious."

_"You will have to wake him. The contents must be taken voluntarily."_

For a moment, as he approached his supine brother, Thor considered if he should even listen to the voice. She- for it certainly sounded like a woman -could be trying to harm them, for all he knew. And yet, from what Loki had said, the voice had tried to protect him, or at least guide him away from the entity that had been chasing him. Surely that meant something?

The voice said nothing further as Thor sat on the bed and pulled Loki halfway into his lap so he would be sitting up. "Loki," he tried, his voice shaking. "Brother, please wake up. You have to...take this." His words sounded feeble, like the words of a frightened child.  _No. I have no time for this._  Loki could be  _dying_  for all he knew. He had only been studying magic for a few years, he was still so new to the craft. How could Thor have allowed him to read that spell when he knew it hurt Loki to even  _look_  at it? What a fool Thor was; what a fool  _both_  of them were. Thor allowed Loki's intellect to make him forget how fragile his little brother could be- and how potentially dangerous magic was. Their mother was always warning Loki, even Thor, sometimes, of the danger.

"Brother, wake up!" Thor shouted, putting as much force behind the words as he dared.

Loki's eyes burst open, red-shot and wide. His pupils were larger than they should be.

Thor held the vial against the smaller god's lips. "Brother...brother, drink this. It will make you feel better."  _It will...it will._ It better. Or Thor would burn this  _House_  to the ground.

Green, tired eyes met his, worried but filled with a trust of which Thor suddenly felt unworthy. Loki knew there was no way Thor could know what this phial contained, and yet he trusted the elder to look out for him. He opened his mouth as Thor, slowly, poured it in and watched the younger swallow as he winced- his throat probably aching with the effort. He coughed and sputtered but drank it all, then laid back down and promptly went to sleep.

"Loki..?"

 _"He will recover,"_  said the voice.

"How can you know that?!" bellowed Thor to the ceiling. "How can you know?!" he repeated, angry.

_"His vital signs are already returning to normal. He only needs rest now; there is no need to worry."_

_No need to worry..._ Thor wanted to throw something,  _break_  something, because how could this  _machine_  tell him not to worry? Was it, perchance, not a machine at all, but a woman sitting somewhere while she watched them? He didn't know and couldn't care right now. Loki wasn't  _her_  brother, so she had no right to tell him  _not to worry._

He gritted his teeth and hugged his little brother close, reveling in the feel of the heartbeat, small but steady against his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are having fun with this. Aw, Thor with his angry huggling; ain't he cute? ;D See you next week!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter than usual, but I think this chapter explains some stuff.

The feeling of being crushed was the first sensation to greet Loki upon waking, but only a moment later he realized it was less crushing than he first thought. It was almost comfortable, and warm.

His eyes were heavy as they lifted, the darkness giving way to a bright yellow that tickled his face...

Frowning and opening his eyes wider, he recognized the yellow to be hair- and he only needed one guess as to whom it belonged.

Unable to move with any expediency, he attempted to blow the strands of hair away from his face. He sighed in annoyance, then tried again, feeling somewhat foolish. He gave it several more tries before most of his idiot brother's hair was away from his face. It was now obvious the crushing sensation was simply Thor holding him a little too tightly. Nothing new there. The thunderer was incapable of embracing  _anyone_  in a civilized manner, it was like being hugged by a bear while you wondered if it was trying to love you or kill you.

Wiggling and huffing, he soon realized it was useless. "Thor," Loki said, annoyed. " _Thor,_ " he tried again. Nothing. And  _snoring_.

_"Your brother has been asleep for only thirty minutes."_

The voice made Loki jump, although he didn't have far to go. "Y-You again?" His voice was still scratchy; he must not have been sleeping very long.

He tried again to move, or at least extricate his arms away from his body, but with no success. He sighed and relaxed, knowing he would have to awaken Thor before he would be free. It had been some time since Thor had held him this way, but getting older had caused no shifts in their differences in raw strength.

"Irritating oaf..." Loki muttered. Why did Thor have to hold him so tightly? It wasn't as if he were going anywhere. And what if danger came to them? Well that would certainly wake the thunder god, with Loki's help or without. It had always amazed Loki, how Thor had an instinct about danger approaching, even in repose. It never ceased to make Loki feel safer when they were out in the wilds or on a quest in some distant land. He had once even tested it, waking up in the middle of the night to sneak about the camp as if he were a predator on the prowl. It was stupid, in hindsight, but Thor hadn't even stirred, as if he instinctively understood there was no danger. Of course,  _approaching_ Thor with a dagger in hand had been a mistake, but not for any obvious reason; Thor had grabbed him, even in sleep, then held him tightly in an embrace that was...sadly, exactly like how he held him now. Needless to say, Loki hadn't tried  _that_  foolish experiment again.

 _"How are you feeling?"_  asked the voice.

Pulled from his thoughts, Loki looked up and sighed. "Well enough, I suppose. Although my throat still hurts," he looked down, "as well as my leg." His arm was a little better, at least. He blinked at the familiar ceiling, feeling strange that this felt so much like home, but wasn't. "What happened?"

_"You fell unconscious after you repaired me. I thank you for that."_

"I...seem to remember drinking something. Was that Thor?"

_"Yes. I instructed him to give you a potion. It is not what it appears, however, you didn't truly consume anything."_

He frowned. "I'm sorry?"

_"As you have guessed, everything around you is an illusion, a representation of the truth that your mind can comprehend. The Book chose your living space in order to help you with your task, and the liquid you consumed was simply a way to get something into your body."_

"Something..." Loki said with some skepticism.

_"You need not worry, neither I nor this House would ever harm you."_

"And why not, what are we to you? And why do you speak as though this House is alive," he looked at the book still on the desk, "and that book?"

_"They are extensions of what I am."_

"And that is?"

There was a short pause.  _"An artificial intelligence."_

That barely answered anything, Loki had already assumed as much.  _Artificial..._  A question jumped out at him. "Then, do you not have a name? I'm certain we will tire very quickly of calling you 'machine.'"

Again, there was a pause.  _"You may call me Lares."_

"Lares?"

_"Yes, Loki."_

No further explanation followed. His mind filled with questions but he knew he wouldn't have time to ask all of them. He sifted through his thoughts to pull out the most relevant ones. "What is that...thing following us?"

_"I do not know."_

"You...don't know? Why did you tell me to go to the fifth floor, where I met it?"

 _"Apologies. My programming defaulted when the Door there was breached, I am uncertain why. I surmise that the intruder caused a massive surge throughout the House that caused my systems to malfunction and revert to their base programming."_  Loki tried his best to follow what she was saying, with minimal success.  _"While I am programmed to protect the wearer of the Tag, I am also programmed to protect the House. Since your Keeper was unconscious, I directed the only available-"_

"Wait, wait," interrupted Loki. "I don't understand your terminology. Tag? Keeper?"

He could almost imagine the machine sighing.  _"You are the Reader, the wearer of the Tag. Your brother is your Keeper."_

"And...what do these titles mean?" he asked, suddenly wary. Why would this House, this machine- whatever it was -give them titles?

_"The Reader collects knowledge, the Keeper protects the Reader."_

That was...overly simplistic. Loki decided to ask more later, he wanted to get back to the subject of the "intruder". Still, he had one more question. "And what is the Tag?" He was sure he already knew the answer.

_"The metal around your wrist."_

He sighed. "Of course," he mumbled. "And I suppose you won't tell me how to remove it?"

_"The Tag cannot be removed."_

"And why not?"

_"I cannot answer that."_

"Why is that?"

_"I cannot answer that."_

"Can you at least tell me what it's made of?"

_"I cannot answer that."_

With a hiss of frustration, he asked, "What  _can_  you tell me, then? Like what in the Nine Realms was that thing chasing me?! Or what we should do about it?"

 _"You should run."_  His breath hitched, those words sending a shiver down his spine.  _"If you ever encounter the intruder: run."_

"How then are we to stop it? Or perhaps you can tell me how we might return home ourselves?"

_"I have a theory that could return the intruder to its origin. To your second question, I have no answers to help you."_

"Why not?"

_"I cannot answer that."_

Loki gritted his teeth, frustrated. He looked to his brother, annoyed suddenly, and too warm in the tight embrace. "Dammit, Thor, wake up!"

With a startled, caught breath, Thor woke up, eyes blinking and looking about. "...What?" He looked to Loki, squinting. "Brother? What are you doing?"

"What are  _you_  doing is the question. Let me go, you brute."

Blinking the last of his grogginess away, Thor let go and laid back against the bed, stretching. Loki, too, stretched, although less dramatically. He scooted a little away and sat up as he shook himself.

"Why must you always do that?" Loki asked quietly.

"Hm?" Clearly Thor wasn't completely awake. "Do what?" he asked as he yawned. He didn't wait for Loki's answer as he asked, "How long was I asleep? It doesn't feel like very long..."

 _"You slept for forty-seven minutes,"_  answered the machine.

Surprised, Thor looked up. "Oh. You again?"

Loki smirked. "That's what I said."

 _"Apologies,"_  said the voice.  _"You must run again."_

Loki's body went rigid.  _No, not here, not_ yet _._  He was comfortable here. He was still tired, his leg hurt, he  _didn't want to run_  anymore.

"What do you mean?" asked Thor. "Run where?"

"It's found us..." Loki whispered. He rushed to the edge of the bed but promptly fell off the side and to the floor when his legs didn't catch him.

"Loki!" Thor hurried to his side and helped him to stand, although Loki's legs shook with the effort. "You still aren't fully recovered," he observed.

" _Clearly_ ," Loki returned, annoyed.

_"Please run."_

A door appeared where Loki's balcony had been, another corridor- not the one from before -stretching out of view.

"But-" started Thor, but Loki cut him off.

"Now! Let's go now!"

With Thor holding Loki around the waist, the two princes rushed out of the room just as the illusion of the stately chambers began to shimmer and ripple like angry water. Neither waited to watch as they hurried down the blank, doorless corridor.

At the end was another silvery disk on the floor, the blue light beckoning them to step onto it.

"Should we-?" asked Thor, but couldn't finish as Loki all but fell onto the platform as they were both rushed away.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The machine-voice directed them the entire way, and was apparently leading them away from the intruder as best it could. Loki told Thor of what the machine had told him, about the titles the voice had given them and of what he understood- however little -of the so-called  _House_.

"What is this House?" Loki abruptly asked the machine as they trudged along the second floor.

_"It is not truly a House, nor even a place, but a representation of a construct that your mind cannot comprehend in its true form."_

Thor frowned. "I...am certain I understood none of that." Loki lightly snorted.

_"Your bodies are real, but what you stand on, the things you touch, even the air in your lungs, is not truly what you perceive it to be."_

"Then," asked Loki, "what is it? I can accept that this is some sort of elaborate illusion, but where are we? If it is not a  _place_ , then what could it be? Are we simply experiencing this place inside our minds or..." he trailed off at the confused look Thor was giving him. "What?"

"Nothing, brother," Thor half-smiled.

They continued up a flight of stairs as the voice continued.  _"I cannot describe what this place is because your minds cannot comprehend it."_

"Then  _where_  are we," tried Loki, "can you answer that? Are we at least still somewhere in the Nine Realms?"

 _"No."_ The direct answer made Thor's jaw clench. Loki looked even more concerned, his wide eyes turning worried.  _"The universe as you understand it is far from here- metaphysically speaking. There is no 'far' or 'near' in this place."_

Thor shook his head. He really didn't like to do so much thinking in one day; it made his head hurt.

"What is this place?" Loki asked in nearly a whisper, looking about as if he could see it.

_"I have no words sufficient enough to explain. This place is not a part of any universe."_

"Then there are other universes?" asked Thor.

Loki gave him a look; he knew that look, it said:  _'Of course you don't know the answer because you weren't paying attention when we were having our lessons.'_  Thor shrugged, smiling.

_"Many, yes."_

"Is that where the...intruder came from?" Thor asked next. This time, Loki's eyebrows lifted in an opposite reaction, as if impressed.

_"Yes. Although I am uncertain what it is. I have not encountered such an entity before."_

They had moved up two more floors and the machine told them to stop.

_"You are on the fifth floor. Please proceed to the open Door."_

"What?" Loki hissed. "That's where I encountered the  _intruder_  the first time- why are you sending us there? Do you expect us to close the Door?"

_"Doors can neither be closed nor opened by conventional means. It should not have opened in the first place."_

Loki swallowed visibly. "W-What do you mean? What are we to do when we get there, then?"

A short pause was enough for Loki to go pale, as if he already knew the answer.  _"You must walk through the Door."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's just two more chapters after this one. Lol, the title the machine gave Thor might be funny if you've read my recent one-shot. Even funnier since I wrote them months apart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some weirdness.

"No," Loki stated, firmly. " _No_ , I will not. Thor..."

The Door was ahead, silent,  _waiting._  Loki knew he was being cowardly, childish even, but he didn't  _care_. Thor couldn't feel the entity, Loki could. The mere thought of it made his stomach turn in knots and his breath stop short.

At the sight of the Door, slightly open and barely a dozen paces away, a strange question occurred to Loki. With a quiet voice, he asked, "How many Doors are there in this place?"

 _"I do not have that answer."_  How could she not? But it didn't matter; he didn't want to go through  _any_  of them.

Trying to breathe as steadily as he could, Loki looked to Thor. The elder pursed his lips. "It is up to you, little brother. I'm certain I understand far less about this than you." His smile was warm and Loki let it wash over him. "Either way, you know I will be there."

Loki's eyes darted between Thor's, not yet ready to decide what to do. Why did  _he_  have to make this decision? It wasn't as if he understood that much more than Thor- whatever the elder thought.

He hesitated to speak, his words slow to form. "W-What are we...what are we to do once we get there?" He eyed the Door, unashamed to show his fear as he held tightly Thor's arm.

_"I do not know. If the environment is not stable for your kind, the Tag would not allow you through."_

Thor shifted on his feet. "That is good...right, brother?"

Inhaling deeply and letting his breath out slowly, Loki nodded, albeit with hesitation. He bit his lip as they approached the Door. He could see nothing but white through the open crack, the same blankness that he had seen out the library's windows.

"Are you ready?" murmured Thor into his ear, words soft but strong. His hand gripping Loki's upper arm was almost enough to calm his frayed nerves... Almost.

.

A cacophony and rush of sound pushed in, obscuring all senses. Loki felt his body  _stretch_ , then, almost as quickly, snap back together as a wave of nausea hit him. His senses returned just as he crashed to the ground, his injured ankle taking the brunt of the fall. He choked on a scream, determined not to vomit- although he next thought to do so might make him feel better.

"...Brother?"

Thor's voice and Thor's hands, falling over him and holding him half sitting up as they both remained on their knees. The arms over his chest and back held him fast, although he wondered if he imagined their slight shaking.

"Thor..." Loki gasped, swallowing the bile threatening to rise if he moved too much.

"It's alright, we made it," said Thor. Loki felt a little better when he noted how Thor's voice was as shaken as his own, even if, a moment later, it also made him nervous. But it didn't matter. Thor was only disoriented. Nothing,  _anywhere_  could unnerve Thor, that was a simple fact of life and Loki was loath to admit the mere thought had helped him through more than he was willing to count.

Finally regaining his bearings, Loki dared to look up.

A long stretch of a straight, wide road sat bordered by a long line of houses on both sides. The houses were plain, white and square, all two floors high, flat on top with one door but no windows. Perfectly trimmed grass covered all but the road and homes. The sun was bright, but even without a cloud in the sky, it seemed shadowed, cold.

"This was...not what I was expecting," said Loki, blinking.

"Nor I," said Thor. Suddenly, Thor began looking around frantically, as if he had lost something. "Mjolnir!" he shouted as he continued searching both his person and the ground around.

"What?" asked Loki. "You've lost your hammer? I thought you had it on you-"

" _Of course_  I had it on me; do you think I would leave it there when we could be going into danger?"

Loki looked around as well, but asked next, "Why not just call it to you-"

"I've been trying. It won't come. It's as if..." he stopped.

"As if...?"

"As if it isn't even here."

"Here. You mean, on this world?"

Thor looked to him. "This  _universe_. Isn't that what you and the machine have been babbling about all this time?" He growled in frustration and shook his head. "I only hope it is still in that House. How did the machine say we are to return?"

Loki shrugged. "Something about 'the Tag will know'? It seems this thing," he looked at the silver device around his wrist, "will return us when it is time." He paused. "Whenever that is."

The thunder god- sans hammer, now -nodded. "Very well, then. What should we do here? She did not say."

Sighing, Loki limped forward. "I suppose we are meant to know it when we see it." He then added, under his breath, "Or at least I hope so."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Despite the coldness of the sun, Thor found himself hot in his armor. He was suddenly struck by the realization that there was no wind here, not even a little. The road stretched onward, as if going forever into the pale horizon. The buildings followed in a monotony that made Thor's eyes hurt. Behind the row of buildings were more buildings, and beyond them another identical road.

"What is this world?" asked Loki as Thor helped him along. "It's so..." he searched for the word.

"Boring," Thor finished.

"I was going to say quiet. Or blank. But that works, too," his smiled a little.

"Why aren't you healing, brother?" asked Thor, looking down at their feet. He was already worried for Loki, but the slow progress of his mending worried him further.

"My magic seems to have been depleted."

Thor stopped. "What?" he asked, surprised.

"My magic," Loki repeated. "I've been trying to conjure it, even something small, but it seems greatly diminished. It started in the House but it's worse now, after we arrived here." Thor stared at him. "I feel it returning, but...it might take some time," he finished.

After a pause, Thor asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It doesn't matter, Thor."

Although he didn't look worried, Thor knew better. Loki was a good fighter but he didn't excel at it, not by any standard in Asgard; magic was something he  _was_  good at and Thor knew it would worry him to suddenly be without.

"Worry not," said Thor in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "I will protect you-"

"Oh, come off it, Thor. No need to state the obvious like one of those idiotic love-struck fools in those grandiose tales mother used to read to us as children." Thor stopped and blinked. Tilting his head, Loki clarified, "I only mean..." He sighed and lowered his head. "I  _know_  you will protect me. There's no need to rub it in."

"Rub  _what_  in, brother? You are injured and I am not, it's as simple as that. Would you not protect me if I were injured and you were whole and hale?"

Loki's eyes shot to his, blinking in surprise. "Well...of course, but-"

"Good." Thor smiled and pulled the dumbstruck trickster along. "That is what brothers  _should_  do."

Regaining his composure, Loki shook his head and exhaled. "Your guileless charm is possibly the only thing that would keep me from leaving you, were you injured, you big lout." By his tone Thor knew the only proper response was to laugh and squeeze a little tighter. "Thor!" Loki protested, but his lips quirked in an almost-smile that Thor wished would stay.

If it wasn't for the lines of houses in every direction, Thor would have called this world desolate, almost like a desert or the solemn white of a snowy plain. He ached to hear more than their shuffling feet across the paved ground. There were no birds, no insects, no  _life_ , in any direction. But surely someone would have had to create these homes? Who trimmed the grass? Who paved the roads?

Loki's sharp intake of breath made him stop. Looking in the same direction, Thor squinted in the sun, wondering if he was imagining it.

"Thor?" The younger prince's wide and worried eyes met his for a moment.

A man stood before a house to their left, as still as a statue and staring in their direction.

Both brothers stared back, barely breathing. It took several moments before they realized the man was not moving,  _at all_. He wasn't just frozen, as in fear or curiosity, he was  _frozen_ , as if he were a true statue and not a living being. Perhaps...he wasn't?

Cautiously, Thor started toward the man.

"What are you doing?!" Loki whispered urgently as he tried to remain in place, although Thor didn't heed him as he pulled him along.

Squinting against the bright sun, Thor spoke, "I beg your pardon, sir. Are you...alive?"

Snorting in amusement, Loki said, "Would you expect him to answer were he not?"

Thor shrugged. The man did, however, look alive- either that or he was the most realistic statue he had ever seen.

Now only a dozen steps away, the man appeared, more or less, as they were. His skin was a shade too red, as if he had been in the sun too long. His ears lacked the details theirs did and his mouth was perhaps a little too wide. But his eyes, his nose... they were...blurred, almost flat, as if the man were made of clay and someone had mashed them into something less recognizable. Thor tried to blink, as if that would clear up the features on the man's face.

The blank eyes stared straight ahead, although on closer inspection, not at the princes. His left arm was slightly raised, and his right leg tilted back. Perhaps he had been about to walk?

Curiosity apparently overcoming Loki's apprehension, he limped forward and leaned toward the man, although ready to jump back if need be. "I...I'm not certain if he's breathing," said Loki in low tones, as though the man might hear.

"Should we..." said Thor, "...touch him?"

Loki gave him a look. "Oh  _now_  you're cautious." He looked back at the statue-man. "I don't know. He's the only sign of life on this world thus far..." He trailed off and straightened his back as his eyes darted behind the man. "There's another one," he whispered.

Walking around the man, Thor too saw another one- a woman, between two of the buildings. Looking around now, a few more could be spotted some ways away, in every direction. How had they missed them?

"This is...very strange," said Loki.  _Needless to say_ , went unsaid.

The entire landscape was dotted with statue-people, in various poses, as if they had been going about their day and were suddenly stricken on the spot with some sort of paralysis. Every one of them had their eyes open, nearly too wide as they stared- Thor now noticed -in the same direction.

Loki seemed to notice as well as he turned fully around, trying to follow their gazes. "This way," he murmured.

For some reason, Thor felt a shiver run down his spine.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

They walked some ways, no longer following the road, but instead moving between the buildings and following where the people were looking. More of the inhabitants appeared as the two walked- although less than one would expect with so many homes -until Loki felt something hit him.

He jerked back, more startled than anything. He looked to Thor with wide eyes. "Did you feel that?"

Thor nodded, wide-eyed as well. "It came from that way." He indicated the direction they were already walking.

All of a sudden, Loki didn't want to walk that way. He didn't know why, but an overwhelming feeling of despair washed over him, went  _through_ him, then leaked out of his feet as if it were a tangible force. He choked on a sob and felt foolish for it when Thor turned to him, confused.

"Brother..?" Thor asked. "Would you like to stop?"

 _Nod,_  Loki told himself.  _Nod!_  But he didn't. He shook his head and swallowed. This wasn't right, any of it. They should leave this place. But where could they go?

Thor pulled him along now, more and more as Loki felt the urge to stay away increase. The sun was blindingly bright but cold like midnight. There suddenly wasn't enough air here, too thin like the atmosphere had been stolen away.

...But there's nothing here!

In every direction. Same, same, same.

White squares and dull grass. Roads and roads and white squares and dull grass and sun and roads and roads and sun  _and no sound not enough no sound not enough-_

Loki gasped for air as he fell to the ground, boneless. Thor somehow didn't catch him in time, but Loki felt his arms surrounding a moment later.

"Brother, what's wrong?" asked Thor, his voice suddenly so far away.

Then, there was a sound, like rushing water- no, like people talking,  _thousands_ of them, whispering endlessly without taking a breath between their hurried words. He lifted his eyes, tears filling them as he strained to see what lay ahead.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Suddenly a scream ripped from his brother, and Thor didn't know what to do. He tried to hold him, tried to soothe, to ask, to  _see_  what was wrong, but Loki didn't heed him and he had no visible injuries- none new, anyway. But this place wasn't home, or even the House, who knew what it could do to them if they stayed too long? And Loki was different from Thor, his magic could be reacting to some unseen force.

Loki started convulsing, then scrambling as if trying to get away, his fingers clawed as he scratched along the hot road, flailing about.

"Loki, stop!" Thor tried, but it was useless. Loki screeched and tried to get away again. Not knowing what to do Thor tried his best to hold him, although barely a minute later he began to settle somewhat, tears falling from his wide eyes.

Holding him closer, Thor heard whispered words tumbling from his lips.

" _No, no, no, no..._ " he repeated. Over and over. Then, still under his breath, he said, "I can't- no,  _I don't want to!_ "

Thor watched helplessly, shaking his head. "What's wrong! Please, brother-"

Ripping himself from Thor's arms, Loki shot to his feet. Caught off-guard, Thor didn't have time to catch the other as he sprinted straight ahead with an urgency that left Thor frozen.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

His eyes didn't know what they were seeing. Before him, converging on a single point that he hadn't seen before, was something he couldn't describe if his life depended on it.

The air and light all around  _pulled_  and expanded and wavered in bursts of slow motion that hurt his eyes to see. Everything around the point disappeared and reappeared, both there and not, Loki couldn't decide which because it  _didn't matter_.

_No, no, I can't go there._

The voice spoke again, words that weren't words assaulting him. It was separate from the thousands that now shouted all around, different and  _distinct_  because it wasn't a part of them, wasn't even  _words_.

Go, it said with phantom whispers. Go. Go. Go. Go.

_I can't, please!_

The sky darkened as he felt his legs move forward, heedless of his commands.

_Stop, stop!_

This wasn't supposed to exist, he knew that. He didn't know  _how_  he knew that, it was an instinct- every fiber of his being screaming at the  _wrongness_.

The point before him drew closer.

Go. Go. Go...

_Brother, help me!_

It didn't matter. Loki was already running. It felt like death; crushing, squeezing,  _ripping_ -

He couldn't feel his breath, his body, his mind,  _everything_  fell away and then suddenly...

White.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're probably all saying wtf was that? It's like the Twilight Zone up in here, init? ;D Hehe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, the last chapter of this episode.

It was like being born anew. Thor felt his body squeezing through what he was sure was the smallest straw, then...

Brightness...and  _white_.

His eyes opened and he was suddenly so awake. It wasn't like waking from sleep, he just popped into consciousness while standing up.

Blinking furiously, his eyes recognized the marble wall of the House right next to his face.  _What..?_  Stumbling back, he caught sight of Loki laying on the floor, on his side and curled up. Hurrying to him, Thor was startled to find his brother's eyes open, although half-lidded in weariness. Yet, it was obvious he was aware of his surroundings. He sniffled as Thor drew closer.

"Brother? Are you..."  _Alright_  sounded so stupid right now.

Loki shook his head, just barely.

Thor didn't know what to do. One moment they were standing in the middle of a street, the bright-cold sun above and the  _quietness_  all around, then, his brother was screaming and  _running_  and Thor hadn't known what to do, he  _still_  didn't know. The next thing he knew he was standing here, before the-

The Door. The Door was still open. Barely a few paces away, but...had they touched it? He was sure it hadn't been quite so wide open before...

Shaking his head, Thor tentatively, and gently, ran his fingers through Loki's hair, hoping it would soothe the other. His green eyes blinked once, slowly, as he let out a quiet, shuddering breath.

 _"Welcome back,"_ said the machine's voice.  _"Did the Tag return you or did you find another means of returning?"_

Ignoring the voice, Thor continued to watch his brother, his worry growing.

"Brother, please, can you...speak?"

Again blinking slowly, Loki's wet eyes moved to Thor's. The elder wiped his tears, but didn't dare move him. Whatever had happened, it was far worse than everything else that had come before.

 _"Your return so soon was unexpected,"_  continued the voice.  _"My analysis shows that you did not return via the Tag. Might I ask by what method you did return?"_

Slowly, as if he hadn't the energy to do so, Loki sat up on one elbow, then slowly wrapped his arms around Thor. Worry growing, Thor held him in return, but didn't like this odd behavior in his brother.  _What has happened?_

Then, in a low murmur, Loki spoke. "That place is not what it should be."

Rubbing his back and waiting a moment, Thor asked carefully, "What do you mean?"

"The essence is gone. It's...I don't know how to describe it. What we saw isn't  _right_. We shouldn't have been there. We walked into a world unwinding; like a coil pulled apart when it should stay together..." Thor continued to listen as he ran his hands over the other in as comforting a manner he could manage. "It will end soon." He pulled back and looked into Thor's eyes- calm but utterly  _tired_. "We found the end of the coil and we can't go back."

Thor couldn't blink, he could only stare. He felt the sudden urge to erase everything Loki had said, to forget and go to sleep and just  _hold_  his little brother because Thor could suddenly feel it, too, the  _wrongness_  of that place. He swallowed.

 _"You are correct,"_  said the voice. Thor wondered if he imagined the quietness in its words.  _"I have completed my analysis. The immediate area surrounding your arrival point is collapsing. I cannot calculate further without more information, however."_  She paused.  _"Apologies. You should not have been able to arrive there, although my diagnostics do not indicate any error in the Tag's programming."_

Loki looked up. "I doubt there is anything wrong with your Tag. That world hasn't ended yet because it's incomplete."

"What does that mean?" asked Thor as he helped the other stand. Loki still looked too tired to be doing anything, much less standing.

"That... _thing_  that's been chasing us, it's..." He frowned and shook his head in deep thought. "It's like the heart of that place. It..." His eyes widened. "It's  _hiding here_ ," he nearly whispered. "Thor," he said, determination suddenly rekindled, "we have to lead it back here, we have to force it back through this Door!"

"But-"

 _"That will be difficult,"_  interjected the voice.  _"You did not return via the Door; how did you return?"_

"Through a tear in their universe," said Loki. "It pulled me in when I neared, I suppose. I...pulled you with me, Thor."

_"It is possible the Tag directed you to enter the tear."_

Loki blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

 _"The Doors are meant to be the only methods of travel between universes, but only because there are no other_ known _ways to travel. The Tag is programmed to seek out new ways, if any."_

Thor didn't like what that could imply. "Are you saying this Tag  _controlled_  my brother?"

_"Not directly, but it can...suggest."_

"Take it off him," growled Thor, and he suddenly found Mjolnir flying to his hand.

_"I do not have that power."_

"If you do not,  _I will_."

_"It will not matter. The Tag is indestructible. No weapon, no magic, no technology or science can remove it."_

"Then what  _can_  remove it-"

"Thor."

_"I cannot answer that."_

Loki sighed and lowered his head. Clearly, he had heard that answer before.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

His elder brother looked ready to try and remove the Tag anyway, but Loki knew it would be useless. They would try later, perhaps, but right now, they simply didn't have the time.

"Where is the entity now?" asked Loki over Thor's next protest.

_"It is moving across the third floor. I have modified the walls and floors to dampen your life-signs."_

Loki sighed. "That's good; I think it seeks out life because it  _needs_  us. It, perhaps... _misses_  the life it's accustomed to nurturing."

"Nurturing?" asked Thor, eyebrow quirked. "You make it sound like a mother."

Loki canted his head. "In a sense, I suppose it is. The life within that place- that  _world_ , is dying. So the heart of it sought a refuge to save itself. Or perhaps I'm putting far too much motivation to something driven by instinct." He straightened. "Either way, we cannot allow it to stay. If that thing remains here..." He looked to the ceiling. "Do you know what could happen?"

_"I have insufficient information to formulate a hypothesis. However, you are correct in that it is not meant to exist in this place. As I said: this is not a universe as you understand it. If it remains here, the consequences cannot be accurately predicted."_

"Then what are we to do," sighed Thor. "How can we force it back to its universe if it does not wish to go?"

A long moment passed in silence, their collective minds searching for an answer. Even so, Loki already knew the answer. There  _was_  only one answer.

He spoke before he could think to stop himself. "I have to go back."

Thor's eyes shot to his. " _What?_ "

"I have to go back," he repeated.

"You  _are not_ -"

"There's no  _time_." He placed his hands on the elder's forearms and held them, he hoped his wide eyes didn't belie his determination. He was  _frightened._  More afraid than he'd ever been. He had felt himself ripping apart when he'd met the tear in that reality; he never wanted to feel that again.

But...

"It has to be me, does it not?" asked Loki of the machine.

_"The Keeper cannot travel without his Reader."_

Thor growled and stepped up to Loki, eyes intense as his hand wrapped around the nape of Loki's neck. "I don't  _care_ ," he said through clenched jaw. He didn't let Loki go. "You  _are not_  going-"

"Thor, it  _has_  to be me!" Loki countered, but didn't move away. If he didn't make it, this would be his last moments with his brother...

"...You are not going  _without me!_ " Thor finished, breathing hard.

Loki couldn't look away as his eyes fluttered. He shook his head. "No.  _No_ , Thor. I'm the only one who  _has_  to go, I'll not risk-"

"This is  _not_  up for debate, little brother!" Thor shouted. "You  _know_  I can keep you here if I wish, so you will either  _go with me_  or not at all. Is that clear?!"

Staring up at the other, Loki was frozen. He knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he  _was_ , and a moment later he felt terrible for it.  _Of course_  Thor wouldn't allow him into danger if he couldn't protect him- but what could he do to help? The answer came so quickly Loki wondered if Thor was answering his thoughts.

He can  _be there..._

After standing without word for a long moment, with both brothers breathing heavily, Loki nodded twice in acquiescence.

.

The machine claimed that it could send them to the same universe without the Door, and from any point in the House, that in fact, as it had stated before,  _Doors were never meant to be opened-_  not in that manner, at least _._  Of course, neither Loki nor Thor truly understood what the machine meant by that.

Now came the moment Loki was _not_  looking forward to: they would have to allow the intruder to  _catch them_.

He hadn't been certain why the intruder unnerved him so, but now, knowing that the death of an entire world walked with it, he supposed it made more sense. But how could he sense that in the first place?

They stood before the doors to the library, since according to the machine, the library's doors were reinforced- with what, Loki didn't ask. It did explain why the intruder took so long to breach it, before.

Thor hadn't let go of Loki's arm since before they had arrived here and he was certain shrugging him off wouldn't work. He also didn't want to.

"Loki, you said before..."

"Hm?"

"You said that we couldn't go back to that place, not  _shouldn't_ ,  _can't_."

Loki nodded. "That was because I felt the end of it...the..." His body tingled; the intruder was approaching. "Without this...entity...that place cannot progress as it has been. Without it, somehow..." He hissed under his breath. "I don't know, I don't quite understand it, myself."

"How do you know these things?" Thor asked.

Smirking, Loki said, "I don't know that either." He made a frustrated noise. "Now I sound like that machine."

Thor smiled and placed his arm across his shoulders. He didn't say anything as he pulled the younger into a tight embrace.

It was coming. He could feel it. There was nothing to do but wait, the machine would take care of everything. What would happen when it reached them? Loki didn't even want to consider...

His heart beat furiously in his chest as he felt Thor's match his like a loud drum. The thunderer's arms tightened even more, squeezing the breath from him, but it didn't matter, Loki had no more breath.

The intruder's approach, its dark tendrils engulfing them, was not unlike the tear they had passed through. It was heavier, though, and while the transport away from that universe moved them, this feeling was crushing, like being pushed into the ground by an invisible and impossible weight.

"Thor..!" Loki tried to gasp, but he felt a violent wrenching, his body ripped away from the other's. He tried to scream, to hold on, but he was gone.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Thor awoke to his legs running. Next to him, his brother's eyes shot open, confused and wide as he ran, as well.

The same road stretched before them, but the sky was darkened, brewing with constant motion and angry clouds. There was _most certainly_  wind now, as it whipped around them without direction.

"Thor!" Loki screamed beside him, his voice muffled in the wind. "We have to get there! We have to find the tear! The machine said if it were possible the Tag would bring us back- it's been too long already, we have to find it! We have to get out of here before everything...before..."  _Before everything ends_. Thor knew the words without them being spoken.

Thor nodded, then looked around. His sense of direction was muddled by the change in the environment, and he looked for one of the statue-people since all of their heads had been turned to where they found the tear the first time.

The two ran in the direction they thought they should, just as the ground began to shake. Subtle at first but steadily growing.

"There!" Thor yelled.

They ran to one of the frozen people, but both princes stopped short and recoiled, uncertain what they were seeing.

"What's happened to them?" shouted Thor over the wind.

The man was still frozen, as if he were about to pick something up, but his face was pointed straight upward, his mouth wide and open, as if a long drawn-out scream might escape it. Looking around, they saw  _all_  of the people doing the same; their heads pulled back and screaming as if to the heavens. They heard no screams, however, and it sent a chill up Thor's spine.

"It doesn't matter!" Loki shouted, "We have to go!"

The quaking of the earth increased with every step they took as they helped each other, one stumbling, then the other, then together- repeating over and over. They wouldn't get very far like this, Thor thought, although Loki seemed to know the way.

While Thor hadn't been able to see the tear before, he certainly could now. A dark hole, like a gouged and screaming eye, appeared in mid-air near the center of a street, the environment around warping and rippling like waves across the blackened sky.

Loki yelled but Thor could barely hear him. "The machine said it should take time for the entity to try again to escape! And everything here is falling apart, I don't think it can try a second time!"

"Then let us go!"

A building to their right groaned loudly as it began to  _stretch_ , like a warped picture. The building next to it began to stretch upward, toward the sky as if to rip the blackened clouds.

Suddenly, everything around them changed- the ground, the sky, the people -blinking into a different image. Tall buildings, with intricate glowing designs and streets of silver bordering them, the long road blocked in the distance by a towering stark-white structure at least twice the size of Asgard's palace. The new environment flashed, then disappeared, then flickered into view again, intermittently exchanging with the previously dull surroundings. For those few moments, the princes saw people-  _real_  people, with beautiful flowing gowns and terrified faces, screaming and running through the city with nowhere to go.

But there wasn't time to stop and  _watch_ , was there? Thor grabbed Loki, who was still transfixed by the shifting world around them, then pushed them both toward the rift- the rift that was slowly collapsing before them.

They both ran, the ground disappearing like water floating upward and out and with a final  _push_  they reached the dark opening, pulled into it as everything  _stopped._

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Gasping for air, like breaking from too long in water, Loki flew awake, arms scrambling for purchase, for something,  _anything_  to hold on to...

He found Thor.

The other held tightly to him, too, his shaking arms all around as Loki buried his face against the broad shoulder.

They both breathed heavily, in and out, trying to catch up with their fleeing minds and trying not to  _see_  what they had just seen. To forget.  _No one_  was ever meant to see that. They had seen the death of a world and they would never be able to  _un_ see it.

Tears streaming down his face, Loki pulled back to see Thor's eyes wet as well. A long moment passed of the two princes simply staring and breathing and crying, but Loki couldn't help the gasped laugh that he tried to choke back. Thor smiled, too, utterly relieved and weary. They were  _alive_  and  _together_ and they were thankful. Air never smelled so sweet. Still, he was sure they would sleep for days after this.

Loki didn't speak,  _couldn't_  right now, and they ignored the machine's voice that occasionally spoke. They didn't care what it said, they just held each other and  _breathed_. There had been too much going on, too much noise and terror and- and now, far too little.

It was so quiet. The once-open Door, closed.

Thor held the side of the younger's face, his smile determined to stay. He leaned in and kissed Loki's forehead, saying: "We will find it, little brother." They rested their heads against each other and took deep breaths, in and out. " _We will find it_..."

He didn't need to elaborate because Loki already knew what he meant, his elder brother's words flowing over them. Yes. Yes, they would find it. No matter how long it took.

The Door home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you guys think? I know it might have been sorta confusing to some of you and since it isn't meant to remain a mystery, if you have questions, feel free to ask (by "mystery", I mean concerning the entity and that world, etc. All the House and machine stuff is a part of the main storyline so you're not meant to know just yet).
> 
> Oh yeah, I've written a "short" (kinda like an in-universe one-shot) that I should be posting soon. It's still a part of this series, but not part of a multi-chapter "episode", like this one. Hopefully, I'll begin uploading the second full-length episode soon, although I'm not sure when.
> 
> (Shorts will be posted at the end of the episode preceding it so they won't be listed as "Part #" in the series.)


	7. The Great Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's that short I was talking about. Warning!: extreme fluff!, man-childness!, stuff that has nothing to do with anything!... Umm, anyway, have fun.

Loki stared intently at it. He studied its every move, its every colored shift and even still wondered what it was.

He sat with crossed legs on the sun-baked ground, leaning forward.

Its head moved, quirked to the side as if it saw him. In truth, Loki wasn't sure it _could_  see, except that it had something akin to eyes on its tiny head.

The sun shined all around, surrounded him in an easy warmth. There was no wind and yet he wasn't hot, like a cool spring day in a green valley beckoning all to jump in a crystal pool at its base. But there wasn't water here, not yet.

The creature- if it could be called a creature -stirred, its long and thick tail-like appendage flicking momentarily as its head tilted the other way. It was almost a cross between a squirrel and a rabbit, yet...not? Its translucent body was of a light blue, the grass beneath it visible through it. Its skin was smooth, like soft glass. He absently wondered what touching it would feel like.

 _What is it?_  Loki wondered, the thought repeating through his head, and suddenly, he was determined to catch it.

He leaned forward a little, experimenting. Its tail flinched but it did little else as it appeared to groom itself, although Loki wondered why it would be necessary; there wasn't any actual  _fur_  on the thing. The whole creature could probably sit comfortably in the palm of his hand, should he be able to catch the little critter.

Looking up for a moment, the trickster prince surveyed the landscape. A green lawn with immaculately cut grass spread out in a large long rectangle that stretched before him, the end of it nearly too far to see. To each side, a hundred paces in each direction, stood large trees of various types in a long line- and interestingly, most were recognizable to him. It was artificial, yet beautiful. The sky was even bluer than on Asgard and white fluffy clouds seemed to sleep on the horizon, lazy in the midday sun.

And yet... far in the distance and in every direction, the setting was incomplete. The machine hadn't yet finished the landscape. None of this was real, yet it  _felt_  real. The sun warmed him and the hard, flat stones beneath him held firm. The grass bent at his touch and the air smelled of sweet flowers.

Loki's eyes jumped back to the...Sprite?  _Hm, Sprite. Why not?_ That's what it looked like, at least to him. In Asgard they used magic to create translucent images for various purposes, to form pictures with shapes as close to reality as possible. Illusion magic had something more potent, a  _true_  solid image, but Loki had yet to fully learn the technique- at least not yet. Mother was still trying to teach him.

When the Sprite moved, as if to run, Loki couldn't help it, he leapt from his spot and barely missed the creature as it sped away faster than any rabbit. The prince jumped up and sprinted after it- he  _had_  to catch the tiny creature.

His legs carried him far as he followed it toward the line of trees. The stately boughs stood in perfect lines surrounded by cleanly cut grass, the sun falling easily through their cool leaves.

Stopping at a tree, Loki peered into the false-forest. Near the second line of trees waited the Sprite. The trickster smiled with open mouth, feeling his heart beat with anticipation.  _I'll get you yet._  He took a step forward, then another, slow but steady.

One of the creature's long ears twitched, its head once again tilting, as if listening. Loki froze. He looked behind him, squinting in the sun.

Just behind where he had been sitting stood the grandeur of the House. Whitest stone stretching in both directions, walls solid beneath the painted sky. It was magnificent, truly. It was also a falsity, of course, since  _this_ image of the building appeared to have an end, and a top floor, but Loki knew better; the House has no end- not that he could find, at least. He and Thor had searched for days.

Long windows yawned at him, but that too was a lie, except for the large one in the library, which faced him. He'd found the exit in the grand room, to both he and Thor's surprise the day before. The machine- or rather, _Lares_ , as it had repeated to him -had apparently decided to create an 'outside' for the brothers, and was still hard at it.

Looking forward again, Loki found the Sprite grooming itself. He rolled his eyes.  _Again?_  The thing didn't even have a real body! And yet it was endearing, made him want to pet it, hold it.

Loki had to have it.

He took several more steps, watching with wide eyes and ready to run after it the moment it-

Loki sprang after it as it zipped away from him, its tiny legs barely hovering above the ground. The mischief prince ran this way and that, zigzagging and matching the creature's desperate movements, grass and dirt flying everywhere.

 _You'll not get away so easily!_  He jumped high into the air, right where the creature was-! And fell flat on his face in the grass.

He hissed and pounded his fist on the soft turf.  _Damn that little pest! I'll-_

Loud laughs rang out behind him. "What in the Nine Realms and beyond are you  _doing_ , brother?!" More laughs.

Loki fixed a glare on his face before turning his head. Looking down at himself, he realized he was spread-eagle on the ground, his hair messy and his clothing stained with grass.

Thor chuckled and scratched his head casually. "Having fun?"

The second prince sat up, looked about, his eyes roving about in frustrated excitement. "Did you see it?"

"See what?" Thor mirrored his brother's actions half-heartedly.

"The creature-"

"Creature?"

"The  _Sprite_ ," Loki corrected as he stood up and brushed off his trousers. He  _hated_  grass stains, or stains of any sort, but he was determined. The creature would be his!

"What? A Sprite?" He looked around again. "Here? Are you feeling feverish, brother?" The back of Thor's mocking hand went to Loki's forehead.

Loki tilted his head down as he glared at him with an annoyed  _I don't have time for this_  look. As his glare didn't lessen, Thor slowly removed his hand and cleared his throat, smiling apologetically- or almost.

 _Now where's that blasted creature gone?_  Loki turned about and searched the ground for signs of its tiny blue body. Thor followed his every move, as if his little brother was either a curious specimen to observe, or else he'd lost his mind.

" _Stop_  that, Thor," Loki ground out as he continued to search.

"Stop what?"

Loki straightened and gave Thor an incredulous look. "You can either  _help_  or you can  _stop_   _that_  and  _leave_. I have to find it." He twirled around, wondering if it had gone back toward the House.

"I truly don't know what you're talking about, Loki. What creature do you think dwells here? I thought this wasn't real-"

"It's  _not_ , and," he smiled sweetly at Thor, "it's nice to know you  _can_  listen when I'm speaking."

Thor rolled his eyes. " _The machine_ said she was creating this place for us, that it's a..." He searched for the words.

"...Virtual world, Thor,  _virtual_ ," Loki finished for him. "And clearly you weren't listened  _that_  well." He bent to the side to look around Thor's bulk. Not there, either. Where could it be? Clearly, Thor had scared it off with his idiotic, ground-shaking voice.

Turning around- far too slowly -and following Loki's gaze, Thor lifted a brow. "I'm beginning to think I've no choice but to think you mad, brother. Where did you say you saw this...Sprite?"

Loki inhaled deeply.  _Calm. Thor is just an idiot and you've known him your whole life._  He spread his lips into a condescending, humoring smile. "It's just a little creature I've been trying to catch. It's blue with large ears and it's quite...cute, actually," he added as he walked around a tree, finger sliding on the smooth bark.

"...'Cute'?" Thor made a face.

"What's that face," Loki said flatly.

"That word sounds...odd, coming from you."

"Odd? I can't say the word 'cute'? I've said it before."

"No, I don't think you have."

"I assure you, I have."

"I don't think so."

" _I have_."

Thor shook his head adamantly, crossing his arms.

Loki was ready to strangle him as he lifted a frustrated arm, although he wasn't sure what he'd do with it so he dropped it. His shoulders slumped. "Fine. Have it your way, I haven't said it before." He rolled his eyes, not really caring about the argument.  _It doesn't matter, I have to find it!_

Thor smiled widely.

Loki continued, "Now go away so your ill-mannered blundering doesn't scare the Sprite away again. Shoo." Loki waved both hands away toward the House as he crouched down to ground level, thinking he might see the creature better from down there. He  _had_  been sitting on the ground when he first spotted it, albeit closer to the House.

The blonde sighed loudly, then, to Loki's annoyance, he sat down. "I'll help you, then."

"I said  _shoo_ , Thor, not  _sit down and help me_. Go away."

"You said to go away  _or_  help; I've chosen the latter." His big smile was annoying, yet...  _Oh, that stupid, endearing, moronic..._

Loki sat down next to him and tiredly rested his chin on his hand, his elbow on his knee. He absently picked at a piece of grass. "I think it's gone." Pouting. Now he was  _pouting_  and  _sulking_. Loki tried his best not to, but he  _wanted_  the creature. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen.

"My  _poor_ brother," Thor said as he rubbed his hand up and down Loki's back.

Loki hissed and elbowed the hand off. "I don't need  _comforting_ , you insensitive lout!"

His elder brother laughed and grabbed Loki from behind with an arm across his collarbone. "Don't be sad, brother!" He gave him a hearty shake next, squeezing too tightly. His voice was  _grating_ , and too loud. And his smile was annoying. "We'll find your creature. Or surely we could ask the machine to simply give you one. If this place is artificial, she could simply conjure one for you!"

 _"I could,"_  interjected Lares' cool voice from the air.

Ignoring the machine, Loki couldn't help but continue sulking. "No. I don't want to, I want mine," he pouted.  _Stop pouting, you idiot,_  he scolded himself. He was acting like a small child, and yet he didn't care. The only person here was Thor and he didn't care how he acted around him- the machine didn't count.

Nothing happened for a long while. Thor's arm draped more heavily over Loki's shoulders.

"Little brother," he said, leaning down, trying to look Loki in the eye as Loki purposefully tried to look away. "I'll help you search for it, hm? We have the whole day, after all."

 _"And more,"_  said Lares.  _"There are no predators in this part of the land and even at night there are lights throughout the forest."_

"See?" said Thor. He used a finger on Loki's chin to make him look at him. "Come. We can catch it together."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious. "You'll search with me?" Thor nodded firmly. "You won't complain? Not once? Because I can search on my own-"

"I swear on my hammer's might I will not complain," he smiled affectionately. " _Not once_."

Slowly, a smile formed on Loki's face. Yes, he was being mischievous, roping Thor into this, but two people searching was always better than one. And what did Thor have better to do in this still very blank landscape? Nothing, probably. No beasts to hunt for food, no monsters to slay for glory, just the sun and trees and little creatures that scurried about in the grass when trickster gods tried to catch them.

"Are you ready?" Thor asked as he stood, eyes roving and shoulders rolling.

Loki too stood, quickly wiping his clothes of grass and straightening his hair. He chuckled at his brother. "You act as though some great hunt were about to begin."

A large smile spread on the thunderer's face. "If that is the only creature in this land, then a great hunt it is! We'll stay through the night, if necessary. We shall have to think up a grand song for this tale, we'll call it..." Loki stopped listening. Thor continued, bounding off as if glory and riches awaited him within the hide and pockets of the tiny blue creature.

Loki stared with wide eyes after him. _Oh my..._   _what have I done?_  He smirked, shook his head, then followed after his big brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaah, where did this even come from? All that bizarre, creepy, unintentionally sad stuff from the last episode made fluff come out! That's my explanation. X3


End file.
